This invention relates generally to equipment items for use by campers and backpackers and the like, particularly with respect to equipment items for use in the preparation and serving of food. More specifically, this invention relates to a relatively simple and easy-to-use support stand for receiving and supporting a food-containing pouch in a secure and stable manner.
Camping and related outdoor activities such as backpacking and hiking into remote or wilderness areas have achieved widespread popularity in recent years. In such activities, a variety of equipment items are normally used such as sleeping bags, tents, cooking apparatus and related utensils and food items, etc. In general, these equipment items are designed to be lightweight and compact in size to permit packing with minimum space requirements, and thereby facilitate transport to a selected campsite.
Dried or dehydrated food products are often used by campers and backpackers since such products are both compact and relatively lightweight in nature, and are often available with a minimum of packaging material requiring proper disposal. In this regard, recent advances in food technology have made available a wide range of food items in freeze dried or dehydrated form ready for rehydration and eating at a campsite. Such food products are packaged within a lightweight foil-based bag or pouch which can be packed and easily carried with other equipment items. At a selected time and place, the food pouch is opened and the contents thereof are rehydrated by adding water, typically hot water, directly into the food pouch and allowing the mixture to stand for several minutes. The thus-prepared food item may be eaten directly from the pouch or served with the use of appropriate utensils, all in a manner which avoids the need for traditional cooking vessels and minimizes or eliminates post-meal related clean-up procedures. When empty, the food pouch may be discarded into a proper waste container or otherwise carried with other camping equipment until a waste container is located.
Although the availability of dehydrated food products has greatly expanded the type and quality of food products which can be easily carried by campers and backpackers, the food pouches containing such products are often somewhat difficult to manipulate without spillage. For example, the flexible food pouch possesses relatively little structural stiffness, such that the pouch is inherently unstable especially when opened and filled with water to rehydrate the food product therein. Such instability is compounded by the use of hot water to rehydrate the food product, since hot water typically renders the pouch difficult to hold or handle manually. As a result, the water-filled pouch is normally rested with minimal stability in a position leaned against any available support structure such as a rock or a tree during the rehydration period, with food spillage occurring with undesired frequency.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for a relatively simple device for use by campers and the like to receive and support a water-filled food pouch in a secure and stable manner, particularly wherein such device is lightweight and adapted for packing with minimal space requirements with other items of camping equipment. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.